The purpose of this study is to explore the set of sociocultural agendas that emerge around the care of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in China. While there is general agreement among stakeholders about the need to work for "the best...

This critical ethnographic study explores how language and literacy shape the social identities and cultural practices of the Bhutanese refugees in the U.S., and how an understanding of their literate practices contributes to new conceptualizations...

This dissertation analyzes the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky with respect to hermeneutic, linguistic, and information theories. The popularity of the CM, with an excess of 1.6 million visitors to date and future plans to build a...

In the last decade, the total foreign-born population in the U.S. has grown exponentially, with the Hispanic Latino immigrants (HLI) experiencing the greatest growth. The literature clearly identifies that HLI experience significant health...

The Adoption and Safe Families Act created specific outcomes for permanency for children in foster care. The purpose of these outcomes is to decrease the number of children in long term foster care. Seven years have passed since ASFA was signed...

Executions and executioners--Press coverage; Mass media and public opinion; Capital punishment in popular culture; Death row inmates--Press coverage

The public's exposure to state sanctioned killings is limited to the mass media representations such as editorials, news reports, feature films, and books. Therefore it is important to examine the process of execution and its relation to the media...

Contemporary anti-prostitution campaigns focus on curtailing “the demand” by punishing sexual service consumers. One component of this approach is a diversion program, or “john school,” offered to those who are caught buying prostitution....

Coal mining has been Appalachian Kentucky’s keystone industry for over a century. However, in 2012 and 2013 coal production plummeted, driving industry employment to historic lows. In the wake of production declines, the coal lobby attests that...